Exclusive: iTVX Adds Social With General Sentiment

ITVX, a research company that measures the marketing effectivenessand value of branded entertainment, is adding social media to its analysisthrough a partnership with General Sentiment.

Product placement, integrations and other forms of brandedentertainment are becoming bigger parts of media campaigns, creating a demandfor finding better ways to predict which executions will resonate withconsumers before they run and evaluate their effectiveness post-air.

"Our clients want accurate information that is easy toimplement and will help them precisely measure their total media initiativesacross TV, movie and digital screens," said Frank Zazza, CEO of iTVX. "We choseto partner with General Sentiment because it offers a streamlined socialintelligence solution that offers the depth necessary to realisticallyinterpret online conversations."

Zazza and Pete Moran, CEO of General Sentiment, describedthe partnership over dinner at the New York Athletic Club. The two executives were introduced by amutual friend in the research business, Bill Harvey, CEO of TRA.

Working with General Sentiment, social media insights willflow onto the iTVX dashboard along with audience data, commercial exposurescores and branded entertainment scores, providing clients with what Zazzacalls a forensic view of their branded entertainment's performance.

"Monitoring conversations is just one part of the equation,"said Moran. "Gleaning social insightscreate more informed marketing strategies in today's market. Old ways ofanalysis are no longer adequate as clients search for a more complete pictureof their brand presence. This branded entertainment partnership with iTVXallows for deeper engagement interpretation for our clients."

General Sentiment will work exclusively with iTVX in thebranded entertainment space.

Last year iTVX teamed up with media measurement companyRentrak to create second-by-second ratings for branded entertainment.

Rentrakhad been working with Bluefin Labs on social media research projects, butBluefin has been acquired by Twitter.